The ex-United captain was pulling no punches…

‘There’s not much between them…’

‘There’s not much between them…’

Haaland gave the penalty to his teammate.

Haaland gave the penalty to his teammate.

Enzo Maresca praised Manchester United after Chelsea’s win at Stamford Bridge (EPA)

Roy Keane has accused Enzo Maresca of ‘patronising’ Manchester United and Ruben Amorim after Chelsea’s 1-0 victory on Friday night….

BRUTAL from the former United captain.

BRUTAL from the former United captain.

Roy Keane believes Scott McTominay’s Manchester United career was hindered by his association with fellow midfielder Fred.

McTominay made over 250 appearances for his boyhood club before moving to Italian side Napoli last summer for £25m.

The Scotland international was a key member of the Old Trafford squad for half a decade, playing at least 35 games every season between 2019-20 and 2023-24.

McTominay was sold partly for PSR reasons and the transfer decision has looked increasingly questionable this season as the 28-year-old has starred for Napoli.

Scoring 12 goals in 34 appearances, McTominay has quickly become a fan favourite in Naples, helping Antonio Conte’s side climb to the top of Serie A with two games remaining.

McTominay’s form for title favourites Napoli has led to claims that Manchester United made a mistake selling him but Keane doubts that is the case.

The ex-Old Trafford captain does, however, acknowledge that McTominay was viewed unfairly during his time at United due to his association with Fred.

The ‘McFred’ midfield partnership was widely criticised, with Keane particularly critical of Brazil international Fred during his five-year spell at the Theatre of Dreams.

‘What didn’t help Scott was it was him and Fred together,’ Keane said on Stick to Football. ‘It just wasn’t a good combo.

‘I know Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer] praises both of them – which is beyond me – I always thought there was something in Scott.

‘He had more than Fred going on, but as a partnership it didn’t work, it wasn’t happening, United weren’t competing in midfield.

‘It tarnished him a little bit, “McFred” wasn’t it. He’s added to his game, to be fair to him. He’s always had a goal in him but he’s got that up to another level.

‘If he wasn’t scoring the goals at Napoli we wouldn’t be talking about him. But you can’t keep talking about players who leave a big club and say we should have kept them.

‘You can’t keep everyone. I think McTominay could have been in the group, 100%. But playing every week? I’m talking about the players you need to get Man United back to the top.

‘They haven’t brought in better which is the problem for the club. United’s recruitment has been that poor that you still talk about former players.’

Solskjaer slams Man Utd for selling McTominay

While McTominay is thriving at Napoli, Fred has also impressed since leaving Manchester United for Fenerbahce in 2023.

Ex-United boss Solskjaer has repeatedly questioned the club’s decision to sell McTominay, recently saying the decision is ‘beyond him’

‘Scott and Fred together, they were lads you would put your hat on every day to give 100 per cent,’ Solskjaer said. ‘How you can sell Scott is beyond me.’

Old Trafford legend Jaap Stam added: ‘Scott McTominay has been a very important influence at Manchester United even though he wasn’t a guaranteed starter.

‘He scored goals and had a big impact and those are the players you don’t want to lose as a football club.

‘Leaving might’ve been a good step for him, as is currently being discussed with Marcus Rashford, but he may well have wanted to stay.

‘He has been a very important player for Napoli and his confidence is growing because he is starting most games and overall I think selling him was a bad call at United.

‘Sometimes you have to make tough decisions as a club and I understand that, but I wouldn’t have been keen to sell McTominay.’

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‘I guarantee the manager will be looking at that.’

‘The problem you have playing against City.’

Manchester United legend Roy Keane has backed Arsenal and Barcelona to come through their Champions League semi-finals to reach this year’s showpiece in Munich.

Mikel Arteta’s men signalled their intent in this year’s competition with an emphatic 5-1 victory on aggregate over Real Madrid – the holders and record 15-time winners.

Declan Rice got Arsenal off to a dream start in the tie with a pair of phenomenal free-kicks to inspire a 3-0 win at the Emirates, in which Mikel Merino also netted, before Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli struck in a 2-1 defeat of Los Blancos in Madrid.

It’s been 16 years since Arsenal last reached the semi-finals of Europe’s top-tier tournament. Manchester United brought their campaign to a halt in 2009 and PSG will aim to stop the Gunners in their tracks this time around.

The north Londoners have never before lifted the prestigious trophy in their history, but came mightily close in 2006, only for Barcelona to complete a stunning comeback to beat them in Paris.

‘We’re talking about the quarter-finals, Real Madrid, a team that is built simply to win this competition and we beat them,’ ex-Arsenal striker Wright said of Arsenal’s semi-final triumph on the latest episode of The Overlap.

‘Why shouldn’t we be happy about that? 5-1, two legs, you can’t play that down. You have to think they can win it.

‘I know that PSG haven’t beaten them before but that’s a different PSG.

‘And I think Arsenal are different from the time they played that time.’

Former Manchester United captain Keane chimed in: ‘Arsenal v Barcelona final, it’s got it written all over it.’

According to Keane, Madrid were their own worst enemy with a ‘crazy’ lack of composure and discipline in the second leg.

‘How crazy were Real? Just booting everybody, weren’t they?’ he added.

‘They were just diving in, dragging people down, getting no momentum. That was stopping them from getting momentum!’

Keane went on to single out Rice for special praise, suggesting opposition players were struggling to match the Arsenal and England midfielder for power.

‘The couple of goals in the first leg were amazing, that gets you talking about him. Putting the ball in the back of the net takes you to another level,’ the seven-time Premier League winner continued.

‘But at the moment he does look more powerful than all the other midfielders around him.

‘He’s running past people. For all his technical stuff, he does look very powerful.’

Wright, meanwhile, has been blown away by Saka’s level of performance, with the two legs falling just four months after the forward underwent surgery on a serious hamstring injury.

‘Madrid didn’t seem to rally at any stage in the game and I thought we defended really well, [Jakub] Kiwior and that,’ Wright said.

‘[Thomas] Partey and Rice were good, but good forward… Saka, coming back, he’s not even majorly fit and still doing it!’

The former Arsenal and England forward went on: ‘I saw something really interesting about the final being at Bayern Munich.

‘Teams that are going there for the first time to try and win it… the last four teams have done that, winning it the first time at Bayern Munich. At the moment, that’s PSG and Arsenal.

‘It’s a stage of the competition where you are very nervous because it comes down to the players, what they do now, because they are so close.

‘You have to think Inter Milan being in and around it, that’s going to be a tough one. All of them!’

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‘He’s a special player.’

‘He’s a special player.’

The ex-United captain was stunned by what he was seeing.

A woeful performance at St James’ Park.